Apart from the obvious, go-kart racing, there isn’t a great opportunity to see any motorsport in Tenerife. There are the frequent car enthusiast and classic car get-togethers, plenty of Fernando Alonso Formula 1 fans that meet in the bars at Sunday lunchtimes, or maybe a little earlier…, to watch the Formula one racing.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
For motor racing fans that would like to be up close and personal, there is always the Adeje Rally held towards the end of the year around September. There never tends to be much fanfare or knowledge about the racing, but in the past they have had the start in Adeje, close to the sports centre, where all of the competitors drive down the ramp after they have been introduced.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
The racing starts early on a Saturday morning and continues until late that day and the various stages are run using generally hilly and bendy mountain roads, through the areas around Tijoco, Guía de Isora, Playa San Juan, Taucho, Adeje, San Miguel and as far as Arona in the hills above the town to work their way back.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
For me, the rally is a highlight of the Tenerife motorsport calendar…but…and this is a big BUT…there has recently been news of agreement that Formula one is coming to Tenerife. Being a self confessed petrol head, I am obviously excited about the prospect, but, to be perfectly honest, I am not getting my hopes up too much. (EDIT:- Nov 2014 It’s now official…!!!)
Even though the plan about the Formula 1 track in Tenerife has been talked about for the last 17 years, the reason I have not yet booked my ticket for the inaugural race is that the project will cost a lot of money to get off the ground, especially in these crisis years. If they race here, this will mean that there will, as it stands as I write, be 3 races in Spain per year…that’s a bit too many and the final nail in the coffin for me getting too excited is that, as I mentioned before…it has been talked about for the last 17 years and although plans have been agreed and supposedly tenders are being sought to carry out the various required works, I am still a little dubious, but don’t worry, if it all goes ahead, I’ll be reporting about it in my blog and I’ll also be one of the first in the queue to get my ticket.
